Butterfly's Samurai II: Kokoro no Kagi
by Annabeth Zatsune
Summary: Ed and Al are going their separate ways now, and I'm joining Al. But when news of Ed getting kidnapped reaches us, we bolt back to save him... Only to learn that his kidnapper has eyes set on ruling the world! Just who is this freak, and why is he familiar? I hope I can still fight despite lacking proper motivation! will finish this before returning to other stories, R&R!
1. Deaths in the Family

I sighed, looking sadly at the graves again.

"It's okay." Winry soothed.

"It won't be the same..." I sniffled.

Jane and Den had both just died. They'd both somehow gotten sick. I guess it was reasonable... They were both old...

"Hey, if it makes you feel better, I got you..." Ed muttered, digging around in his pockets. Eyes red, literally, I looked to him. "Uhh... What was it again... Oh yeah! 'Kokoro no kagi!'" he said proudly, pulling out an ornate diamond-studded key pendant on a chain.

"Key of heart, huh?" I smiled a little. "Thanks, Edward." I said, kissing his cheek as I took the necklace from him. He colored a bit in the cheeks.

"Did you teach him that, Annabeth? It's in that... Japanese, isn't it?" Al asked.

"No, but via-Gate mail, my parents sent me a Japanese dictionary. I guess he looked a few things up in it as well as forming grammar through that song I sing... Aku no musume means daughter of evil. Aku is evil. Through that, I guess Ed figured out to put kokoro, or heart, before key." I deduced.

"Yeah... You beat me again..." the object of our conversation muttered.

"Oh, cheer up. It's right in time before we go our separate ways!"

"Huh?" he said suddenly.

"I guess we forgot to tell you Annabeth decided to go with me into Xing." Al told him.

"Whaaat? Why?"

"Maybe because we're still engaged, dim-wit?" Winry reminded him, making good use of her wrench.

"That and I can talk him out of adopting every stray we come across..." I said softly.

_You've only been dead for an hour and I miss you already, Janey-baby..._

Tears came to my eyes.

"Annabeth? What's wrong?" Alphonse asked.

"I've had Janey ever since she was a kitten..." I murmured. "Did I ever tell you that she could talk right from the start? She didn't just learn it... The second we let her and her sisters loose, the other two ran off to hide... Jane took a few steps out and clearly yelled 'Mommy.' I took a liking to her for that. And then when she was always the peace-maker between her sisters when they fought... And then she started to mimic my motions and learn to be more human... In turn, she taught me to be more of a cat... It'll never be the same without her..." A sob came up my throat, and I broke down. I fell to my knees sobbing, tears streaming down my face. My wings were quivering. I was crying really badly.

"It's okay. Maybe you can find someone in Xing. Maybe she'll be reborn as someone new, and you can find that new person." Winry soothed, kneeling down and wrapping her arms around me. "You probably had a deeper connection to Jane than I did to Den, and from Jane's actions, I understand that you two were like one mind in two bodies. It's not fair that she was ripped from you, but there is always that chance..."

"D-domou arigatou, Winry-chan..." I sobbed into her shoulder.

"If you do find her in Xing, I won't object to you bringing her home." Ed said. Al shot him a dirty look.

I gathered myself and stood up. "Well... We should get packing, shouldn't we?" I smiled weakly.

"Guess so." the brothers agreed.

"Well, what're you waiting for then?" Winry smiled.

Still bearing grief about the deaths of our beloved pets, we went back up to the house.

In about two hours, we had everything done, and were waiting at the station for Ed's train. "You'll be okay?" I asked. "Without your Alchemy, I mean?"

"Oh, c'mon! I sparred with Teacher! I'm sure I'll be fine!" he scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, but there may be those who could use their Ninja Centerfold to knock you down without touching you!" I pointed out.

"Something tells me I don't want to know." he said, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture.

"You probably don't... At least not until you sleep with Winry at least once!" I laughed.

"Annabeth!" he and Winry cried. "You're so immature!"

"And proud of it! Beat that!" I cackled.

"No thanks." Winry muttered as the train pulled up.

As he boarded and the train pulled away, I fingered the necklace hanging from my neck. "I'm gonna miss the numb-skull..." I muttered, smiling.

"At least it'll be quieter without him." Winry smiled.

"Exactly!" I laughed.

"C'mon, Annabeth, we need to find where Zampano and Jereso vanished too." Al told me, tugging at my sleeve.

"I almost forgot those two are coming with! Let's go!" I smiled, turning around and tugging him after me.

It didn't take too long to find the two. Then again, in a farming village where just about everyone seems somewhat small, it isn't too hard to locate two hulking men. I guess they'd just reached Winry's, because they seemed to be just settling in when we arrived.

"Okay... Now we just need to wait for your girlfriend!" I teased, poking Alphonse.

"Hey! It's not like that! May's a friend, nothing more!" he objected, but it was too late. I already had the Chimera-men snickering and Winry and her grandmother smiling.

"Fine, she's not... But we still need to wait for May to come pick us up. Hopefully, it won't be long..."

There was a knock at the door. Through the window, I saw the familiar form of the Xingese princess. "Speak of the devil...!" I sighed, smiling as we all laughed a bit.

It had been uncanny...

But that's life for you! It can get pretty weird.

"You should adjust to life in Xing fairly fast, Annabeth... From the way you know so much about this place in your world, and it sounds fairly similar to Xing." May told me as we began our journey.

"Meh... I guess... It corresponds to China, a country in our world... Sorta..." I nodded.

For some reason, over the next few weeks, I couldn't shake the sense that something was gravely wrong...


	2. Kidnapped!

Annabeth would love it here...

This country seemed to be filled with bright, colorful markets full of music. He could picture her running from stall to stall, oohing and aahing at all the shiny objects for sale, cooing over the baby animals in that stall there, and dancing to the piper there's tunes...

_Pity she didn't come with me... She's missing out!_

He sighed, walking past another set of stalls selling jewelry items. Light reflected off of gems, precious metals and mirrors.

She would've stayed there for and hour or so, purchasing the whole stalls had she been able. He chuckled, remembering how long it'd taken him to find the necklace he'd given her.

How did that song she sang go...?

The one about December...?

_Dancing bears, painted wings, things I almost remember...?_

_Something like that?_

Movement caught his eye.

That stall-owner...

_That was one big knife!_

"Don't move..." the man growled.

"Nice try..." he smirked. He took off.

Several stall-owners gave chase.

Recalling what Annabeth had said, he desperately hoped none of these guys could do that Ninja Centerfold, whatever that was!

More in front of him! Crap!

Skidding, he turned, darting around people and through stalls. "Look out!... Comin' through! Make way! 'Scuse me...!" he cried, pushing and squeezing through people.

As he shoved his way into a building, he found that it was mostly empty. Taking that to his advantage, he put on an extra burst of speed. Spotting a spiral stair-case, he ran up it.

"He went in here! Search the place!" he heard someone yell.

_Dammit!_

Now what?!

He kept running up the stairs, hoping they'd give up... "Oof!"

What the heck...? What kind of stairs spiraled up into a wall?!

Spotting a small chink in the wall, he figured it out...

"Nice..." he sighed, opening up a tiny door. He could just barely fit in the small tunnel behind it... But those people chasing him wouldn't! Not with those huge bulky muscles! Ducking down, he began to crawl through the tiny tunnel. "Dammit, Annabeth and everyone else would be making small jokes by now..." he growled, swiping away more cobwebs as spiders fled before him.

"Gah!"

The floor had given out beneath him! He was falling!

"Arrrrrgh!" he yelled, flailing.

"Oof!"

"S-sorry!" he gasped, climbing off the filthy boy and running again. He must've fell down some chimney flue or something...!

"Hey!"

He paused for a second to look back. _Crap!_ That sweeps-boy was with them?! Had to be, with that huge scimitar and the way he was chasing after him! He started to bound, hardly breathing, heart in his mouth.

"Annabeth, if... If I live... I'm gonna kill... Kill you!" he gasped, swerving around a tight corner and slipping down a steep slide. Spotting someone ahead of him, he ducked down, slipping between their legs. From the crash behind him, the sweeps-boy had crashed into whoever it was.

"Crrrr-aaaaaap!" he yelled, finding himself face-to-face with three men the size of Major Armstrong... And wielding axes.

Oh well!

He jumped to the wall, pushing himself off and to the next wall... Until he found himself past the men. "Ha-hah!" he laughed.

"Not so fast...!"

"Arrrrrgh!"

_What the heck was that?! A flame-thrower of some sort?!_

No... It was... What did Annabeth call that picture of hers...?

A stun-gun. That was it...

Panting, exhausted, and now stunned, apparently, he fell over, blacking out.

**Before I forget again...**

**DOMOU ARIGATOU to my friend elysenjazz for greatly helping me with this! I never could've gotten it put together so well without you!**


	3. He's in Danger!

"Annabeth? What's wrong?" Al asked as I stopped, holding my temples.

"I... I don't know..." I murmured. "Something with Ed, I think..."

"I'm sure he's fine. He did spar with Izumi, didn't he? And he and Al survived on that island for a month without Alchemy?" May asked.

"Yeah, but this is a strange country... Who knows what dangers there are there? Bigger than a fox, that's for sure!" I said stubbornly.

"I'm sure everything's fine..." Ling soothed. "It's probably just a headache."

"Yeah... Sure..." I nodded, not at all reassured. "It's a nasty headache, anyways... So I'm gonna go t' bed for now..." I muttered, standing up.

Shakily, I made my way to the room that Lan Fan, May and I shared. I practically dove under my blanket, shivering. I was scared. Something was wrong, I could feel it...!

I fell asleep easily enough... But my dreams were riddled with screams and bright flashes of painfully bright light... And a voice, taunting me, sneering about how weak I was, how I was such a princess...

I shot awake screaming.

"Ow!"

"Oh! Gosh, sorry Lan Fan!" I said, covering my mouth in shock. I'd delivered a nasty blow to her nose when I'd thrashed... Oops.

"What's wrong? You were screaming and yelling for Edward in your sleep." May said worriedly. Shao May nodded from May's shoulder.

"I... I think he's in danger, but no one will listen! And... Oh, no..."

_Those screams in my dream had been Edward's!_

I jumped up and ran. Lan Fan and May ran after me, shouting. People got up and came out of their rooms to see what all the commotion was. I ran right past all of them, ignoring the bewildered cries and people yelling my name...

I had to get to Edward...!

I made it to the huge court-yard. Spreading my wings, I was about to take off when Al grabbed my arm. "Annabeth, what's wrong?" he asked, scared.

"Edward! He's in trouble!" I wailed in distress, flapping frantically, but not strong enough to take off.

"How? What do you mean, and how do you know?" Ling asked, looking concerned.

"I... I went to the room and fell asleep... But my dreams were bad! Very bad! Ling, I heard Ed screaming in pain and fear and there were all these really bright flashes and someone was saying nasty things to me and-"

"Woah, woah, slow up! Calm down! For all we know, this was just a dream!" he said.

"But it wasn't!" I cried indignantly... I had a strong connection to the Gate of Truth, and he was doubting something I thought was going on. I was real upset.

There was a flutter of wings, and something landed near us.

"What kind of bird is that?" Alphonse asked.

I gulped. "A golden eagle..."

I've had a bad experience with them. A bully at my school had a pet golden eagle, and once the thing attacked me, badly mauling my back. Naturally, I was a tad on the nervous side...

The thing fluttered over, and I ducked behind my friends with a squeak. "It's got a message tied onto it's foot!" Ling said.

"S-so take it off and read it...!" I stammered. "And don't let it near me...!"

May obliged. She paled after giving it a once-over. "A-Annabeth was right..."

Giving the eagle a wide birth, I ran over and snatched the paper from her hands. "N-no..." I gasped, falling to my knees. "I-it can't be... No..."

"Annabeth, what is it?"

"My past tormentor, Shayle... He-he's here in this world... He's got Ed captive!" I sobbed, the paper crumpling in my hand. As if in a mood-swing, I jumped up, glowering at the eagle, Fury. I ripped a piece of my shirt off and quickly bit my thumb. Satisfied, I scribbled down a quick message. Shaking a bit, I tied the cloth to the scaly leg.

Content with the response, Fury flew off.

"Annabeth, what did you reply...?" Al asked, scared by the message which he'd just read.

"He may have a mini-army of Drachmans and assorted thugs behind him... But he's hurting Edward. I'll plow through them until I find that coward and shove a size XXXXXXXL machete into his gut!" I snarled.

"You'll need help! And, come on, this is perfect! Amestris and Drachma have been fighting for... Ever! With this, you can pitch them against each other!" Ling urged.

"How? One little character isn't gonna matter to the country!"

"Yes, it will..." Al nodded, apparently seeing some logic that I didn't.

"Tell, 'cause I'm all ears!"

"Ed saved Amestris. And if you know a lot of people in Amestris, this Shayle character may take more of them. If you warn the people that Drachmans are abducting their own, you can stir them to action!" May prompted.

"Oh..."

I felt stupid then. Way t' go, not seeing that...

**Okay... So I've got a few proposals for you people here.**

**BECAUSE YOU READ THE STORY, YOU MUST DO ONE OF THESE! SHOW HOW MUCH YOU LOVE (LIKE) BUTTERFLY'S SAMURAI!**

**1) I need a new OC. Well, a few details. Can you finish his\her design in a way that it pleases me and fits the story?**

**2) Think you have Annabeth's best color? Write a one-shot about one of the many different looks of Annabeth!**

**3) SONGS! Annabeth loves to sing, but I'm outta songs! HELP!**

**4) Annabeth listens to Vocaloid... Can you write her into one of their songs?**

**DETAILS ARE ON MY FILE AT THE VERY BOTTOM! CHECK IT OUT! WINNERS GET A PRIZE!**


	4. She'll Come Right To Me

He looked triumphantly at the bruised little body, and gave it a ferocious kick.

"Augh!"

"Better start talking soon..." he purred.

"Hah... Even Annabeth would've given up by now!" the anime-character chuckled, spitting up blood. "You're persistent, I'll give you that much!"

There was the shrill keen of his beloved pet, and he looked up. "Doesn't matter. I suppose she'll come right to me just to get to you." he sighed, pulling off the scrap of fabric from the eagle's leg.

"Even that goof isn't so stupid as to just plow right through a whole damn army just to save my ass."

"Her message begs to differ. Says she'll kick anyone who stands between her and you to the moon and back, and she doesn't give shit about my arsenal, because she'll just shove... Ooh, when did little weak princess get so violent? Nasty comment there!" he laughed.

"Annabeth... Baka..."

"She's become so close to you that she's teaching you Japanese? I think I picked the winning number on this ticket!" he cackled. "Is that ring on your finger hers?"

"Nah..."

What? It wasn't Annabeth's?

"She forced me to go with the story. I'm engaged to someone else, not her, bird-brain!"

Hmm... He shrugged, turning away. The anime-character was missing his metal leg. He wasn't going anywhere. Chuckling, he left the room.

"So, Annabeth is going to come right to me to get to little Edward... I can't wait to face the little princess again...!"


	5. Train Attack!

I growled, pacing back and forth.

"Would you sit down?!" Ling cried in exasperation.

"Why?" I challenged.

"You've been pacing the entire train-ride. Sit down." May said, patting the seat next to her.

"No... I can't, I'm a caged tiger! I can't sit down, I can't relax!" I yelled, ready to rip my long hair out.

"Calm down... Find a happy place..." Al soothed, coming up next to me and putting a soft hand on my shoulder.

"That's hard when Ed's probably half-dead..." I sniffled, hugging him.

"That little bean? He can take care of himself, I'm sure he's fine!" Ling said stubbornly.

"That's just it! How can he take care of himself without a leg...? Shayle is a bully, he used to pick on me... If you're going to run or fight back, he'll take precautions against it! I know Shayle! It's bad that he's got his grubby mitts on Ed... And it's all my fault..." I sobbed as Al patted my shoulder and carefully straightened the feathers on my wings.

"Hey, now why do you say that?" he asked, holding me at arm's length to look me over.

"Think about it... If I'd gone with him, this wouldn't have happened! Ed has no Alchemy and he's useless without a leg! What's to keep Shayle from killing him?!"

"If you had gone with Ed, Shayle may have come for me."

"Yeah... But you have your Alchemy, and you don't become useless if a limb is taken away..." I pouted, pulling away. "And you'd have May and Ling and Lan Fan and everybody else, and Ed was in a strange country with no friends or allies, he didn't have anyone to back him up or defend him and-"

"Calm down, girl! You're rambling!" Ling interrupted.

"That all may be true, but at least we know that Ed won't easily give up. This Shayle guy may have some work ahead of him if he wants to break Edward. Remember how stubborn he is." Al smiled.

They were trying to make me feel better...

... But somehow I only felt worse. Sobbing, I ripped away from Al and ran away, into the next car.

I was only a few cars away from the engine-car when the explosion happened. I was thrown back, indicating that it was close and strong...

"Ohmigod, theengine!" I shrieked, putting the pedal to the metal. I was practically flying as I tried desperately to see the problem.

In the next car, I was about to go to the next...

But as I opened the door, a scene of utter destruction greeted me. Twisted metal, fire, smoke, and a few charred remains...

"No... Not fair..." I gasped, falling to my knees. A simple malfunction in the train couldn't cause this. Not for seven train-cars to be blown to smithereens! That striking me as odd suddenly, I stood up, looking around.

"Annabeth are you- Oh..."

Al and the others. But I was still looking around. Something was amiss here... But what was it...?

There was a mini-explosion, a loud hiss, and a larger explosion only meters away from me, throwing me violently back. I growled, my head whipping up for some weird reason...

"Gah, fuck." I swore, seeing the guy with a jet-pack. And a rocket-launcher. And what appeared to be a tranquilizer-gun hanging on his hip. "You wanna play rough, bastard?! Here I come!" I roared, taking off. I hear the others yelling after me, but I ignored them. The guy seemed startled... Not prepared for the flying girl, I guess.

I tackled him as he fired another rocket. This one went spinning off into the sky, exploding so that the pieces rained harmlessly down over nothing. I started beating on him with my fists as he reached for the tranq-gun, biting and kicking as well. As he grabbed it, I knocked it out of his hands... But I totally forgot about the friggin' rocket-launcher, which I was promptly smacked with.

"Annabeth!" May screamed as I began to tumble through the air. Shaking my head, I quickly righted myself...

... And almost caught a rocket in my gut. The others were fast enoguh to hurl themselves out of the way, but that made eight train-cars blown up total.

As the enemy tried to reload and fire at me again, I tackled him again, this time latching down on the soft flesh of where the shoulder meets the neck. He screamed, dropping the weapon. He began to thrash wildly, trying to shake me off...

And I wasn't biting all that hard! The wuss!

And as I began to thrash as well...

I must've hit the power-button on the jet-pack, because suddenly my wings were the only things holding us up. I shrieked, grabbing hold of the terrified man. He began babbling and pleading in what I assume was Drachman... I couldn't tell, just that I didn't understand him. "Oof...! Lay off the sugar-cookies, pal...!" I gasped, struggling to keep us aloft...

Well, at least keep our descent at a comfortable speed.

When I touched down, the man knelt and began kissing the ground. I actually felt like doing the same, but I had my dignity to maintain, and I had to seem more intimidating to him.

"Are you okay?" May gasped, running up.

"A bit traumatized from almost getting blown to pieces and the fact that about fifteen people just got burnt to crisps or blown to bitty-bits, but other than that, I'm good." I said. "So...! You! Talk!" I ordered, pointing at our former attacker.

He looked terrified, and began babbling again. I could feel the question-marks above my head. "Uhh... Someone here care to translate that...?" I squeaked, looking at the others.

"I don't speak Drachman!" "Don't understand anything he just said." "Sorry..."

But then Al got down and started talking. The guy babbled more... Al spoke more... Babble... Speak...

I think the rest of us were just watching in confusion as Al pumped the guy for info.

Sighing, Al stood up. "A young man with an eagle supplied him with the weapons and told him to find and eliminate Annabeth."

"Shayle." I said, rolling my eyes.

"And then he said there's also a small army of both Drachmans and pirates massing in an ocean to the south. There's a secret island where Shayle sets up base, but he doesn't know where it is."

"That sounds like Shayle's style alright... Can I kill the blighter now?" I asked.

"No." everyone said firmly.


	6. Killing Hurts

"Just a little light mauling, maybe? C'mon, he did kill a bunch of people, and he tried to blast me to little bits of gore!"

They'd reached Central to talk to Mustang, and Annabeth was still asking to kill their prisoner.

"No." they all said again.

"It's not like he has any real value! Please?!"

"No, Annabeth. The answer has been and will be no." Ling said bluntly.

"I'm gonna keep nagging until I can kill 'im... And Al knows the extent of my nagging powers!"

"Yes, unfortuneately I do. But now isn't the time, Annabeth." he sighed.

"Please please please please?! He deserves it! Can't I just give him a good whacking-around? Pleeeeease!"

"Just ignore her..." he groaned.

"I'll try..." May sighed. He could see that the nagging was already affecting her. Ling and Lan Fan seemed oblivious to it for the time being, but he knew that it wouldn't stay that way.

He was right. By the time they'd reached Mustang's office, Annabeth had resorted to her favorite method of nagging Edward.

This was composed of her clinging to someone's leg and bawling loudly, begging and pleading. Lucky him, she decided to hold onto him.

"Sounds like someone's rapidly replacing his brother." Mustang smirked as they entered.

"That's part of why we're here..." he grunted, heaving his leg forward. "Edward has been kidnapped."

Except for Annabeth's bawling, there was silence.

"Who's she pleading permission to kill?" Mustang asked finally.

"A Drachman. He's an underling of the guy who kidnapped Ed." Ling replied.

"Ling...? Who all is here?" the soldier asked in confusion. Hawkeye and Doctor Marcoh quickly gave him a list of everyone present. "So, what all happened? Tell me everything, don't leave anything out."

Ling and May took over here, explaining while he and Lan Fan kept an eye on the Drachman agent and attempted to pry Annabeth off his leg. However, she had a few years of practice on her side, having had Ed resort to pretty desperate methods to try to get her off.

"I honestly don't see any real reason to keep the man alive." Mustang said at the end of the explanation.

"S-sir!" Hawkeye yelled.

"He has out-lived his usefulness..." Marcoh said slowly.

"So it's settled. Let the angel kill the Drachman agent. I highly doubt that this Shayle character would send someone valuable, so why not? It's not like we can bargain with him." Mustang nodded, crossing his arms.

"Yaaaay! Domo arigatou, Mustang-sama!" Annabeth yelled cheerfully, jumping up and kissing the soldier. Mustang's cheeks burned red as Annabeth dragged the pleading Drachman away.

"Sir, that was unnecessary! We could've gotten further information out of him!" Hawkeye scolded.

"I somehow doubt it. From what Ling and May tell us, Al drilled him pretty good. And that hints that he doesn't know diddly."

"Still... Annabeth could get a little out of control... I'll go keep an eye on her..." he sighed, leaving the room.

It didn't take too long to find her. She was actually on her way back when he found her!

_Oh no... She's already killed him, and if that stain is anything to go by, it was pretty messy!_

"Annabeth, what did you do?!" he demanded.

"Oh, the stain...? I was shocked too. In all the spy-novels and junk like that, there's very little blood. It goes straight to the brain, and there's practically no blood... I must've done something wrong." she said nonchalantly.

"What did you do?!" he almost yelled.

"Oh, you mean to kill him... I took him into a small place of woods, dug a hole, and then I transmuted a swordy-thingy... You're supposed to stick it right here, near where you get the pulse, only closer to the ear, and it supposedly has minimal mess and instant death... But I must've goofed, because there was this huge spurt of blood." she said.

Then he saw her eyes were blank.

"Annabeth...?"

"I... People always empathized how painful the first kill is... But I guess I never took them seriously. The Homunculi don't count, they weren't human... But now I've taken my first human-life... I... I don't see how Light just killed people without any qualms at all..." she shuddered, tears springing to her eyes.

"L-Light...? Who... What...?" he asked, confused.

"Another anime character. His voice-actor was the same as Ling's, but I don't see any connection other than being anime characters... Light, you see, was a teenager who found a notebook that could kill people. He decided he was going to purify the world, kill every criminal, every person he thought was bad or evil."

"Wouldn't that be most of the world?!" he gasped, almost reeling at the thought.

"That's what some people said. But Light decided to do it. He killed many, many people. And he did it with no qualms at all, like they were cattle raised to be slaughtered..."

"That's disgusting!" he cried.

"Yes... And I always thought that it meant it was easy... But..."

She broke down now, shuddering and sobbing, tears streaming down her face.

He wrapped his arms around her. He couldn't blame her for being upset... He'd been upset enough when he watched people die before him, so why not be this upset about actually killing someone...?

**Thanks to Bittersweet Alchemist and elysenjazz for helping me out of my writer's block and giving me ideas for this chapter! I don't own _Death Note_. If I did, L wouldn't die, and Ryuk would have all the apples he wanted.**


	7. Encouragment

"No. I don't wanna sing." I said softly.

May was trying to coax me to sing something. I was in a blue and black feeling, which generally means I'm very sad.

"C'mon, I bet it'll cheer you up." she said, pushing on my shoulder. Shao May squeaked, nodding.

"And you may need to come up with something for us to use as a battle-cry in the upcoming fight." Hawkeye said.

"Huh?"

"The Fuhrer has approved of our lending troops to retrieve Edward. From what you say, this Shayle character is bent on world-domination. After he gets rid of the equalizer, you, he'll most likely come for Amestris."

"In that case..." I said softly. "... Just let me think, I'll come up with something..."

Everyone was silent... Sorta. They were bustling about, making preparations for the upcoming war.

Ling slung himself in through the window, Lan Fan not far behind. "Okay, I just sent a message to Xing for some of my forces."

I'd jumped up when he'd burst in, ready to fight... Too jumpy to be expecting him.

_Hmm... Jump. Now there's an idea._

"Now, how does that go...?" I murmured, a small smile creeping onto my face. "You gotta jump! Jump! That's what the base is for! Gotta jump! Jump! If you want more!"

"Annabeth?" Al asked.

I became silent, staring at my feet for a moment, nodding my head in time to the rhythm in my head. Everyone else became silent, knowing I was coming up with something. 'Jump Jump' was one of my favorite songs, and it often inspired me to do things.

Now it was giving me something else to sing...

_Boom boom clap. Boom boom clap. Boom boom clap._

I stomped my foot twice, then softly clapped. Repeat...

They were getting the rhythm.

"... This is a call to arms... Gather soldiers, time to go to war... This is a battle-song... Brothers and sisters, time to go to war...! Did you ever believe? Were you ever a dreamer? Ever imagine, heart open and free? Did you ever deny? Were you ever a traitor? Ever in love with your blood, lust and need? This is a call to arms! Gather soldiers, time to go to war! This is a battle-song! Brothers and sisters, time to go to war...! Ever wanna be free? Do you even remember? Wanna be God, the Devil like me? Ever wanna just stop? Do you wanna surrender? Or fight for victory...?! Here we are at the start... I can feel the beating of our hearts... Here we are at the start.. Darkness-"

"That's good, that's good! Let's use that!" Ling grinned.

I stuck my tongue out at him. "You screwed me up."

"Nevertheless, it's still a good song." Hawkeye smiled. I smiled back, feeling my happy colors drain back into me.

But then I thought of poor Ed, stuck with Shayle...

And my shades of gray came right back.

_You take the shades of gray and make them fade away!_

And my rainbow colors returned again.

"La dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da **(A\N: Too many here for me to keep up with... So rawr.)**... All the colors in the sky remind me of your pretty eyes, oh, be with me, right now... When I look into the sky, I see the clouds and wonder why I'm not with you, right now... Oh, be my rainbow girl, put the colors in my world, and baby you can see, that we were meant to be! You take the shades of gray and make them fade away! You brighten up my day, oh, baby, won't you stay? I'll be your rainbow girl, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da! I'll be your rainbow girl, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da! I'll be your rainbow girl...! Alright let's go! Alright let's go! Alright let's go! Alright let's, alright let's, alright let's, alright-alright-alright-alright-alright let's go!... All the colors in the sky remind me of your pretty eyes, oh, be with me, right now... When I look into the sky, I see the clouds and wonder why I'm not with you, right now... Oh, be my rainbow girl, put the colors in my world, and baby you can see, that we were meant to be! You take the shades of gray and make them fade away! You brighten up my day, oh, baby, won't you stay? I'll be your rainbow girl, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da! I'll be your rainbow girl, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da! I'll be your rainbow girl...! La dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da... Alright let's-let's-let's go! Let-let-let's go! oh, be my rainbow girl, put the colors in my world, and baby you can see, that we were meant to be! You take the shades of gray and make them far away! You brighten up my day, oh, baby, won't you stay? I'll be your rainbow girl, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da! I'll be your rainbow girl, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da, la dadi dadi da! I'll be your rainbow girl!"

May was smiling and telling me to look how much happier I was. Everyone else was smiling and nodding.

"That seems like it was written for you. You certainly chase away Ed's shades of gray." Al smiled.

"Really?" I asked.

"I bet he's looking at the sky and thinking of your pretty eyes right now." Mustang smirked from at his desk.

"Shut up, you bastard, or you'll make me sad again!" I yelled. "I'll sic the panda on you!"

That earned a lot of laughter. I huffed.

_Why am I thinking of that jet-pack...?_

_Oh shit! Shayle's always been a high-tech person! Nobody else has the shit he does! How can we counter them?!_

_Shut up, Annabeth. You have the ultimate weapon. Once you confiscate all this stuff, simply take it to Winry and have her reconstruct them, only six times better!_

"Alphonse!" I screeched, jumping on his back. He shouted in surprise. "The jet-pack and the RPG! Where are they! We gotta go see Winry!" I howled.

"What're you going on about, Annabeth?" Ling asked.

"Shayle has always been known to use high-tech crap. But, sorry to say this, we're pretty damn low-tech. So, if we could get Winry and like a hundred other engineers working on duplicating every high-tech weapon thingy we capture, since we all know Winry would improve anything she took apart, we'd quickly kick Shayle's ass!" I smirked.

"Great idea! That way we could quickly win, like you said!" May smiled.

So we were all soon ready to go to Resembool. The jet-pack and RPG were safely in my hands as we approached the Rockbell's house.

"Wait."

"Ling?"

He, May and Lan Fan were stock-stiff.

"What's wrong?" I growled, started to turn a tight circle.

"There's someone in there with them..."

I thrust the things at Al and bounded up the stairs of the house, through the door, and sprinted down to where there was conversation.

"RAWR- AAH!"

I realized too late who it was I was tackling.

"Dammit!"

"Sorry! Ling set me off! We got attacked recently and everyone's tightly wound!" I growled, rolling off of Scar. "Just a minute while I go kick his ass... LING, YOU IDIOT!"

Everyone stared after me as I ran back outside and tackled Ling.

"If you're quite done, we've got a mission, remember?!" Al yelled as we rolled over and over.

"Oh, yeah. Winry-sama, we've got toys for you!" I said cheerfully, taking them from Al and handing them to her.

"Ohmigosh, what are these?! They're amazing, can I take them apart?!"

"So longs as ya put 'em back together an' make us a ton more of 'em! We need more so we can go rescue Edo-kun from some old bully of mine." I informed her.

"That idiot, he's always getting into trouble..." she muttered, then went back to cooing over the big shiny new toys we'd brought for her.

I smiled. With Winry, we'd win in no time squat...

SO WHY DIDN'T I FEEL THAT WAY?!

That evening, I was sitting out on the porch being sulky while everyone else was inside trying to make merry. I looked out over under the tree where Jane and Den were.

"Is something the matter?"

I whipped around. Scar... "No, not really... I guess... Shayle, the guy who got Edward... he used to bully me all the time, and take my things away from me, destroy them, break me down... And nobody stopped him but my two friends, who I only just met recently. But... I suppose I'm a little scared. Without them, how the heck do I stand up to Shayle?! It'll be just like always, with him standing triumphant over a bloody, broken and beaten me..." I sniffed, lowering my head into my arms.

"I doubt that."

"Eh?"

"You're strong. Possibly one of the strongest people I've ever met. I have no doubt that you'll prevail over him."

I smiled a little as he said that... Partially because he was smiling. I'd hardly ever seen Scar smile. It was special...


End file.
